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Former KEEP OF KALESSIN Singer Says He Was 'Fired In Public'

Ex-KEEP OF KALESSIN frontman Torbjørn "Thebon" Schei has slammed his former bandmates for "firing him in public" after he "disappeared" in he "African jungle" for three months.

KEEP OF KALESSIN has just released a video for a new song, "Introspection", which premiered his past Wednesday (March 27) at the Indie Recordings label night at the Inferno festival in Oslo, Norway. The track features the singing debut of guitarist Arnt "Obsidian C." Grønbech, who took over on lead vocals after the band was allegedly unable to track down Thebon.

"We [hadn't] heard from him in five months," said Obsidian. "He went to South Africa with his girlfriend and we received no life sign or answers to our messages. Instead of waiting it out, we just had to move on and I started testing the vocals in the studio myself, realizing my vocals were far from bad. I've always been the driving force of the band and I found it to be easier if I just managed to handle the vocals from now on instead of replacing Thebon with someone else. The worst part of this will, of course, be to do both vocals and guitars live, but it's all a matter of practice, really. We now feel that this is the way to go and that the band is in fact stronger than ever!"

After KEEP OF KALESSIN announced Thebon's departure from the band in a press release on Thursday, the singer released the following statement to BLABBERMOUTH.NET:

"I'm not missing in the jungle, I went to study and relax for three months and did not hear anything from the band in that time. I got a message about a band meeting a week ago, but did't reply because I was preoccupied with other projects, and I was deciding if I wanted to continue with KEEP OF KALESSIN.

"I read in a press release that they have recorded new music, and even made a video and fired me in public at the Inferno festival. Clearly this proves that they have made their decision about me quite some time ago. This kind of loyalty and friendship is exactly one of the reasons I have been considering leaving the band for quite some time now. I wish them all the best."

"Reptilian", the latest album from KEEP OF KALESSIN, entered the official chart in the band's home country at position No. 2. The CD was made available in North America on June 8, 2010 via Nuclear Blast Records.

KEEP OF KALESSIN took third place in the 2010 installment of the Norwegian national Eurovision Song Contest competition "Melodi Grand Prix". The band performed a song called "The Dragontower", which was originally written for the group's latest album but had to be shortened from 5:20 minutes to 3:00 minutes for the performance. The full, unedited track appears on "Reptilian".

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